Rainier, Gannett, Granite - July 2012

[Puma concolor]

State highpoints #46 - 48 for me. Posted the TR over on VFTT's sister site.

State Highpointing 2012: Rainier, Gannett, Granite

 

[Chip]

State highpoints #46 - 48 for me. Posted the TR over on VFTT's sister site.

State Highpointing 2012: Rainier, Gannett, Granite

Congratulations. We enjoyed our IMG experience their also. Did they have the Kitchen Tent at Muir ? Great trip, report and photos. Good on you !

 

[Puma concolor]

Congratulations. We enjoyed our IMG experience their also. Did they have the Kitchen Tent at Muir ? Great trip, report and photos. Good on you !

Oh yeah. They had a food tent set up at both Muir and Ingraham Flats. Pretty awesome operation, I must say. I don't have a single bad thing to say about IMG and would recommend them to absolutely anyone considering a guided climb of Rainier.

Glad you enjoyed your experience with them as well ... and thanks for taking the time to check out my TR.

 

[Peakbagr]

Just a terrific trip report and photos. Thanks for sharing with us.

Alan

 

[TrishandAlex]

A huge congratulations to you! Getting those three peaks within a two week time span is an amazing accomplishment. Thank you for posting your wonderful trip report. Well done.

 

[Puma concolor]

Thanks Peakbagr and TrishandAlex!! The trip never feels complete until I write the trip report. What a cool journey this highpointing thing has turned out to be.

 

[Bombadil]

congrats on your summits! I remember being awed by the fireworm (13th warrior anyone?) on the DC, it's an image that really sticks with you as you can make out the mountain precipitously dropping off below you and just a streaming snake of headlamps coming across Ingraham and up the DC. Speaking of images, those are some stunning photos, especially the latter ones in the TR!

Regarding Hood, I think if you give her another shot you'll find her to pale in comparison to Rainier. Sure it's no cakewalk but the more technical part of the climb is just so darn short in duration compared to what you went through on Rainier. The old chute, while it looks pretty formidable in your photo, isn't the wall of ice it looks to be from a distance. It's steep and direct but quite climbable. Yes a lot of people have run out of luck up there but a huge number of people attempt it so the numbers are a bit skewed. I still consider myself a novice but my only recommendation is that it would be prudent IMO to rope up just for the ridge walk (or atleast carry a rope to give yourself the option to belay) that awaits you at the top of the chute. When I was there 2 months ago it was corniced up and pretty nasty, I don't know if it mellows out in late season but it's definitely narrow and is going to feel real exposed, cuz it is.

Goodluck with Denali if that's the next big objective and if not, kudos on all your success thus far!
Pat

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Fabulous report!! Way to crush it! Congratulations. What a ton of training you must've put in. Very inspiring.

 

[Puma concolor]

Thanks Bombadil and TheUnstrungHarp. I did train hard but it wasn't anything crazy. Either ran or swam every day I could starting about three months before my trip. Part of my hope was that I would continue to get stronger as the trip went on and that's exactly what happened.

And thanks for the insights on Mount Hood as well, Bombadil. One of the things I have noticed in the past is exactly what you say in terms of the terrain always looking steeper from a distance than when you are on it. That's the main reason I did my scouting hike halfway up the mountain. But the Old Chute still looked way steeper than I remembered in March 2011 and I could see lots of evidence of rockfall everywhere. After reading of bignslow's success over on General Backcountry, I guess the moral is that I should have gone guided on Hood as well. Of course, it'll still be there for another day ... unless it erupts.

 

[Chugach001]

Great job and Congrats. You'll walk Hood next time. Good luck on Denali.

 

[bignslow]

Thanks for the trip report!
Our guides shared your sentiments about RMI vs IMG and they said IMG is the only way to go on Rainier.
I wasn't aware guided trips were available for the other peaks, so that might somewhat move those peaks from my "never ever" column to my "worth considering" column

 

[Jay H]

Thanks for the trip report!
Our guides shared your sentiments about RMI vs IMG and they said IMG is the only way to go on Rainier.
I wasn't aware guided trips were available for the other peaks, so that might somewhat move those peaks from my "never ever" column to my "worth considering" column

We ran into a guide on Gannett at the summit, who also guides on Granite so all of them can be. I don't remember which outfit she was with but she had a solo client so this wasn't like a Rainier thing where they have 10ish clients in various teams with multiple guides.

It would of been hard for me to forget the client because he almost slipped on the narrow path in the snowfield just before the summit coming back and he would of probably have slid to his death if he did and the guide could not arrest him because it was pretty much a no-slip zone and nobody was using ice axes.

Jay

 

[Puma concolor]

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides is the shizzle and I had a great all-around experience on both peaks. I booked way back in the Fall and as the first reservation for the year, I actually got to set the dates. Thought I would have to pay the private climb rate but they told me they'd give me the group rate if I opened it up to other clients ... and I'm all about saving money. On Gannett, it wound up one guide and three clients while on Granite, it was two guides and five clients. Very chill. Exum also guides on Gannett but I think JHMG is it for Granite.

On the continued subject of guides on the tough highpoints, I have been told the conversation begins and ends with Alaska Mountaineering School for Denali.

 

[Jay H]

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides is the shizzle and I had a great all-around experience on both peaks. I booked way back in the Fall and as the first reservation for the year, I actually got to set the dates. Thought I would have to pay the private climb rate but they told me they'd give me the group rate if I opened it up to other clients ... and I'm all about saving money. On Gannett, it wound up one guide and three clients while on Granite, it was two guides and five clients. Very chill. Exum also guides on Gannett but I think JHMG is it for Granite.

On the continued subject of guides on the tough highpoints, I have been told the conversation begins and ends with Alaska Mountaineering School for Denali.

Oh, now that you mentioned it, I do believe she was with Jackson Hole Mtn Guides.. It would make sense since Gannett is not far from Jackson Hole.....

Jay

 

[Puma concolor]

Oh, now that you mentioned it, I do believe she was with Jackson Hole Mtn Guides.. It would make sense since Gannett is not far from Jackson Hole.....

Jay

Well, if it was JHMG and she was in her early 30s, it's probably the same guide we had. On both Gannett and Granite, there was a constant preoccupation with electrical activity and we left the axes in the car on Granite. IIRC, on Gannett, we used them through the technical terrain up the Gooseneck couloir but stashed the lightning rods at the bottom of the summit ridge. Don't know what conditions were like the year you were there, but we spent as much time on rock as on snow/ice on summit day and the path on the summit ridge was pretty wide ... so the axes were not crucial. Again, if it was the same guide you witnessed, I'm not surprised she stopped a fall; she really knows her stuff, has done many ascents of El Capitan and regularly guides on the Grand Teton.

 

[Jay H]

Could be, the snowlevel at the Gooseneck was fairly low as the fixed anchors (for the descent) were way over our heads and we couldn't use them. But there was snow and crampons to get up it. We let the guide use our rope to double it up for a rappel on the way back to save us some time of having to fix two rappel sections and I remember there was a crevasse forming at the base of the gooseneck, hence the rappel for safety.

The client she was with did not fall, but had a scary (to me anyway waiting for both of them to return from the summit) wobble just before reaching the safety of our position. We waited for both of them to traverse the snowfield before we made our way to the summit and the register...

Jay

 

[bcborder]

mountain trip

On the continued subject of guides on the tough highpoints, I have been told the conversation begins and ends with Alaska Mountaineering School for Denali.

I did the Denali Traverse with Mountain Trip in 2007 (http://mountaintrip.com/). I had a very good experience with them and I recommend them highly. The trip was well run and safely guided. Very good food, nice group of clients, and the guides were great.

If you're up for it, it was awesome leaving the crowds on the West Buttress and hiking out the Muldrow. It's an experience I won't forget.

 

[Puma concolor]

I did the Denali Traverse with Mountain Trip in 2007 (http://mountaintrip.com/). I had a very good experience with them and I recommend them highly. The trip was well run and safely guided. Very good food, nice group of clients, and the guides were great.

If you're up for it, it was awesome leaving the crowds on the West Buttress and hiking out the Muldrow. It's an experience I won't forget.

Very cool. Thanks for the food for thought and I'm glad you had such a great experience! I would like to get out there sooner rather than later but I will just have to see how things develop. Definitely not next year ... anywhere between 2014 and 2016 would be ideal.